Mayor Garcetti Releases DWP Benchmarking Study Results

Study finds DWP offers among lowest rates compared to its peers, scores 1st and 2nd quartile on reliability and 1st quartile on operating costs, but must make customer service improvements

LOS ANGELES – Mayor Eric Garcetti announced today the results of an initial benchmarking study at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to find efficiencies that will improve operations and save money for ratepayers. To promote transparency and ensure the Department is focused on the most pressing needs of ratepayers, Mayor Garcetti directed the Department to conduct an independent evaluation of its operations and costs, which was performed by PA Consulting and Strategy&, based on a wide range of performance metrics, including water and power reliability, operating costs, and customer service.

"One of my top 'back to basics' priorities is to ensure that the Department of Water and Power delivers affordable and dependable water, power and customer service," Mayor Garcetti said. "The results of this independent benchmarking analysis show that the DWP scores in the first and second quartiles on reliability, is in the first quartile on operating costs, and offers among the lowest rates compared with our peers. The study finds a need for customer service improvements, reinforcing our work to hire 190 customer service representatives since April 2014 to drive call hold times down to under 5 minutes. Under our new leadership at the DWP, we are changing the culture to focus more on customer service, because that’s what our customers deserve."

LADWP General Manager Marcie Edwards said the wide-ranging, 3-Phase Benchmarking study offers the baseline comparison metrics for future analysis that will continue drilling down into areas that need improvement. "I am very pleased with the initial results of this study, which will help us find and achieve real cost savings and greater efficiencies within LADWP’s operations," Edwards said.

"It is also important to note there are some costs that rank high compared to our peers, such as power distribution operations and maintenance costs——but this highlights the need for greater capital investments in replacing aging infrastructure," Edwards adds. "The performance metric for power Total O&M costs per customer also reflects LADWP’s continued low rates relative to our California peers."